Roy had “friends” across the political spectrum, but over the years, he came to be identified more with Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party.

LUCKNOW: For the sleepy Lucknow of the 1990s whose favourite past-time seemed to be reminiscing the city’s long gone glory days, Subrata Roy Sahara brought a dash of heavy bling and some more. Overtime, the man who came in from Gorakhpur became its most famous permanent resident – almost equivalent in importance to the one who lords over from the chief minister’s office – and soon enough, celebrities from Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi put the 240-acre Sahara Sahar luxury township on the banks of river Gomti as a ‘mustvisit’ address in their itinerary.

Whether a matinee idol in his 80s or a sports star in her teens, a business baron planning a global takeover, or a rent-a-quote socialite, to Roy, they were all “friends” who came calling. It could be this very unique Sahara strain of modesty that made him assume the title of Chief Managing Worker, not chairman or MD, of his $11 billion parabanking-to-airline-toreal estate empire. For the outside world, he bestowed on himself the title “Sahara Shri”.

Roy had “friends” across the political spectrum, but over the years, he came to be identified more with Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party. But before Mulayam, there was Vir Bahadur Singh, an author-politician from the Congress stable, who was also from Gorakhpur. But his untimely and mysterious demise in Paris in 1990 left Roy without a political anchor. And this was the time that his money collection business – from small traders and villagers across UP – started booming. Flush with funds, Roy moved to Lucknow and set up the base structure of what would become a billion-dollar empire. Soon, he started hosting parties with top deck Bollywood stars, stunning the city of Nawabs, now embroiled in the post-Mandal political melee.

Understandably, mainstream parties were reluctant to court this newcomer in the luxury circuit. And Roy started cultivating powerful local chieftains, who were charmed by the high life that Roy had come to symbolize by then. Roy soon connected with the rustic Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had kept a low profile during his first term as CM from 1989 to 1991. But it was when Mulayam became the CM again in December 1993 that the relationship grew deeper, aided by Amar Singh who had started taking long strides in politics.

The Amar Singh-Roy duo injected a dash of glamour in the otherwise rustic Samajwadi Party. When Mulayam was made Defence Minister in the United Front government of 1996-98 the Amar Singh-Roy duo helped him traverse the whispering corridors of Delhi. Roy’s Sahara Airways and fleet of private planes used to ferry top politicians from UP and other states during those hectic days when the government stumbled from day to day.

During the period, megastar Amitabh Bachchan had also returned from his extended stay abroad to launch a business venture under Amitabh Bachchan Corp Ltd in 1996. He hosted the Miss World pageant and soon landed in financial trouble.

It was Roy who bailed out Bachchan with Amar Singh by his side. Soon Bachchan was gracing the Kartavya Council of Sahara India, supposed to be the supreme governing body of the group, which had other eminent bureaucrats, retired jurists and celebs on the panel.

But what etched the image of Roy permanently in the mind of the rest of India was the Rs 250-crore wedding of Roy’s two sons Sushanto and Seemanto in February 2004. Spread over a fortnight, chartered flights flew in and out of Lucknow ferrying five-star guests. Bollywood director Raj Kumar Santoshi filmed the entire ceremony for Roy’s private album; Taj Group chef Hemant Oberoi took care of the food; British Symphony Orchestra played for the guests that included prime minister of the day, AB Vajpayee.

When Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav married Dimple, his reception was also hosted at Sahara Shahar in 1999. In 2012, when Akhilesh became the CM, within hours of the swearing in ceremony, he went over to Sahara Shahar to attend a lunch party hosted by Roy.

It was not as if the last 20 years were a smooth ride. Being identified by SP brought its share of troubles when BSP’s Mayawati came to power in 2007. She scuttled several of his real estate projects, even bulldozed part of the 240 acre Sahara Shahar, which was allegedly leased out for a paltry sum to Roy. But Roy managed to build bridges with the BSP government. Soon, bureaucrats from Mayawati’s secretariat were also seen at parties hosted by Roy, though Mayawati kept her distance.